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Consumer Eating Behaviors

Public health officials and the food industry study consumer eating behaviors. Health officials look at consumer eating habits to identify unhealthy trends and attempt to steer people back to healthier eating behaviors. Marketers and businesspeople in the food industry want to know what foods they should produce to increase their profits. Individuals may want to identify consumer eating behaviors so that they can note the behaviors that provide the healthiest diet.

  1. Quick Meals

    • The American lifestyle has radically changed the eating habits of American consumers of the last 30 years, according to research by the NPD Group, a market research company. As Americans have moved towards two-income families and busier weekly schedules, the tradition of home-cooked family meals has changed as families and individuals look for meals that they can quickly prepare and consume. This includes prepared foods, frozen meals and foods that cook quickly on grills and in microwaves.

    Economy

    • Consumers emphasize value and look for competitive prices when purchasing their foods. Economic struggles have led to an increase in consumers who combine leftovers into new meals and reduced the number of consumers who eat out. Consumers also buy more organic and locally grown foods, even though these food items cost more. Increasingly, consumers decide that the health benefits of healthier organic and locally grown foods outweigh the higher cost of these items.

    Parental Influences

    • The John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health cautions parents that "...factors other than family and parental eating behaviors may play an important role in affecting American children's dietary intakes." Schools, community, peer influence and the media seem to play an important role in consumer behavior regarding the foods that parents purchase for their children. Additional influences include the child's self-image and self-esteem. Consumers should examine their children's environment as well as their own modeling behaviors when trying to influence their children's eating habits.

    Caloric Labeling

    • Low-income consumers do not appear to change their eating habits as a result of caloric labeling. A study by New York University (NYU) School of Medicine and the NYU Wagner School of Public Service notes that low-income consumers did not change their purchasing behaviors notably after New York City began requiring eateries to post the calorie content of the foods that they served. Over one quarter of the individuals questioned said that they had changed their purchases as a result of the calorie labeling, but statistics indicate that they continue to purchase the same kinds of foods as before the labeling law took effect.

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